Comment by augustflanagan | Hacker News Reader

Comment by augustflanagan | Hacker News Reader

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I used to go to the gym and lift really heavy things off the ground for 2-3 hours a day 5 days a week. It was great exercise and I loved how strong I was after a few years of doing that religiously.

At some point life "got in the way", and between a kid and a full-time job my gym time started to disappear. I've tried a lot of creative approaches to keeping fit with shorter workouts, and what I have come up with isn't all that different than what is being prescribed here.

My basic approach is this:

1. Pushups - every other morning I do 5 minutes of pushups where I start at a set of 20 then bump up by a count of 5 until I'm at 35. Then I work my way back down to 20 allowing brief 20 second rests in between.

2. Pullups - same as pushups except I start at 6 and bump by 2 until I hit 10, and then work back down.

3. Squats - No weight, three sets of 50. This could be better, but I'm kinda lazy when it comes to squats

4. Mix in exercises using resistance bands. (shoulder press, lat pulls, tricep extensions, etc). I usually do these in three sets of 12-15.

Each workout takes about 15 minutes, and while I've lost some muscle mass I'm still a pretty lean/muscular 170. I'm sure there are all sorts of optimizations I could make, but honestly I don't really care at this point. I've found a quick workout I can do 3-4 times a week and it is keeping me pretty damn healthy.

2-3 hours a day x 5 days a week -- 10-15 hrs -- is a huge amount of time to spend on weights.

A Starting Strength routine shouldn't take more than 3-4 hours a week, and you'd be moving way more than your bodyweight.

Or, if you can find room in your dwelling for a barbell and plates, Pavel's Power to the People program would take a total of 2-3 hours a week. Again, you'd be developing strength, rather than endurance.

Having said that, if you've found something you're happy with, cool. The routine you actually do beats a theoretically superior routine you don't get around to.

A big part of gym time is getting there, changing (twice) and taking a shower. When I used to go to the gym, I did SS and it took between 50 and 60 minutes to complete the workout, but I left home at 5:30 AM and got to school at 8:00 AM. There was one hour to walk to/from the gym and about 30 minutes to change and wash up.

Since I started working out at home (same kind of deal as OP), I got less strong, but not by much, but I also have more time.

Given your situation, I'd recommend investing in some kettlebells and elastic bands (get the latter from a powerlifting specialist, they'll be cheaper and better).

> 3. Squats - No weight, three sets of 50. This could be better, but I'm kinda lazy when it comes to squats

Look into doing pistol squats[1]. The bodyweight fitness subreddit[2] is actually a pretty good resource for what you're doing. Glad you've found something that works for you.

[1] http://www.beastskills.com/one-legged-squat-the-pistol/

[2] http://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness

Pistol squats: careful there. I damaged the cartilage on the back of my patella doing something similar. The damage was caused merely by stepping up onto an almost waist high platform a couple of times. This is not the usual consult-a-doctor bullshit: I was 23 and deadlifting 275+ for reps, so I wasn't "weak" or out of shape. Make sure you have the proper strength for a full pistol squat before trying it.

Sure, but even sedentary people only lose a pound of muscle a year. It is really easy to maintain once you have spent that 2-3 years building a foundation, as you did, with weights.

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